Those of you who follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook know that he likes to try out lots of different art styles. We’d been looking for an excuse for him to incorporate one of those art styles into the strip and today’s seemed like a natural fit. I think it came off beautifully. For you process junkies, Marc shares his thoughts and behind-the-scenes photos in the blog posting this very day (you should be able to scroll down and see it).
This week is a bit of a recap week, but a necessary one. This is all new information to Spy Gal. For the curious, let’s see if I can give you some links to the events referenced in the above strip:
1. The Third Man Talking to the Society of Heroes – This is from the SuperFogeys Origins story “Operation: Valhalla” which revealed the machinations behind Spy Gal coming to Valhalla.
2. The Vahalla Grand Opening – We’ve never actually seen this event. The closest we’ve gotten is this picture of Dr. Klein with Valhalla’s first residents.
3. Jerry Getting Shot – This is from Chapter 4, “Dictator Tot’s Revenge.” Spy Gal ended up feeling real bad about this and drawing closer to Jerry because of it.
4. Dr. Klein Talking to Dr. Rocket – For a while, Jerry in the guise of Dr. Klein was in cahoots with Dr. Rocket, commissioning the good doctor to build a giant robot for him. Why? Because…
5. The Giant Robot, aka ‘Donutron’ – A Giant Robot reigned horror on Las Vegas and Jerry was the one to stop it, endearing Spy Gal to him to the degree that they got married that very night. Did you ever notice the visual symmetry between Jerry and ‘Donutron?’ Marc pointed it out to me over the weekend.
6. Captain Spectacular Hits the Jackpot – When Captain Spectacular couldn’t tear himself away from the slots to fight the Giant Robot, Spy Gal finally realized he was not the man for her. Jerry, for all his faults, knows the Fogeys better than anyone. He knew exactly how lazy Cap would get in Vegas.
There you have it. Hope it helps.
Thanks to you, SuperFogeys made it to the Semi-Finals of the TGT Tournament! But now… we’re up against the comic that received the most votes in the previous round and we’re kind of getting our butt kicked. I believe we can turn it around and all you have to do is take a couple seconds to vote right here. Ignore the social media stuff and just hit “keep my vote anonymous” to avoid any entanglements. Remember: you can vote once a day!
Jerry’s evil grins are getting more evil with each strip.
It’s true, but what I love about this one is that, I think, if you weren’t looking at it from above Jerry it probably wouldn’t look all that evil at all. That’s awesome.
Sometimes that’s all it takes, angle and lighting can take a confused innocent man and make him look like a desperate violent man. I’ve had people tell me with just a change of tone and the proper lighting, on stage I could go from looking like the innocent man to the man plotting everyone’s downfall.
I think I’d actually find this strip much more spooky if we did get that charming and innocent look from Jerry. It’s like he’s ready to play the part of villain now after lying to himself about his actions and motives.
I love the flashback art, Marc! But Jerry’s grin in 3 is one of the coolest things you’ve ever drawn. Flashbacks of my own of Hanover Fiste from “Heavy Metal” came pouring in.
Okay, I confess I had to look that reference up on YouTube, but now that I have… yeah, I totally see it.
Boy, is Spy Girl being foolish now or is this her acting ?
Still, all is revealed does have quite a ring to it.
Not sure what you mean by foolish, Marcus. While we know where the robot came from, Spy Gal is just now figuring it out.
Agreed that it’s nice to have all the cards out on the table.
Sweet jebus that is one creepy grin in 3. Quick, someone shoot him again!
Harsh.
That look is worthy of the Joker.
And, yeah, that whole saved Las Vegas/defeated a giant robot argument would work better if he hadn’t had the robot that nearly destroyed Las Vegas built in the first place.
I’m glad someone else saw the Joker in that last panel. Reminds a lot of some of the very early Joker drawings.
That evil grin translates to “do you REALLY think that this power dampers are going to stop ME?”. I don’t know, the strip is great as always, but I kind of feel that Spygal’s lines is… bland. Maybe she doesn’t look so in pain as I thought she would or maybe there is too much text where only a few mumbles should came from her while she digest all the revelation…
Always appreciate the crits. I think a lot of what you’re looking for from Spy Gal is still coming. She’s gathering info, making connections. It’s a process. Her actual reactions are just around the corner, promise.
I said the same a week or so ago, that he’s just biding his time. After all, he probably knows more about the dampeners than anyone actually at Valhalla.
As to Spy Gal’s comments seeming “weak”. It’s called Shock. Especially since its a betrayal of this magnitude, and not just one betrayal, but a stack of them, the shock is even greater. She’s running on “logic” mode at the moment, and that last bit kind of implies “logic mode” is about to be turned off.
I’ve dealt with betrayals(thankfully none involving murder), and those betrayed often do the same thing. They’ll parrot the words said to them, as if they’re trying to make sure that they’re hearing what they think they heard. They just can’t believe it. They’re in a state of disbelief. Love and trust will do that to a person. It just hasn’t all quite sunk in yet.
Once the shock fades and it all sinks in … well, things will get messy. I expect to hear screaming, bodies being slammed into the wall, the works. At least until he decides to pull the coup de grace and narrowly escape.
Good thoughts, KentDA. I’m sorry for your experiences, but they’ve given you some great insight.
Holy crap balls! That is one of the evilest grins I’ve ever seen. Kick Jerry in the shins and run!
Hey, Patricia! I wanna see Space Pig kick Jerry in the shins. Who’s with me?
No no no. If anyone gets to kick Jerry in the shins (and thats a long line about now) it starts with Spy Gal(naturally) with Sam second in line. While Sam may not have been as directly impacted by the betrayal, he suffered a betrayal of a different sort.
He made mistakes, was treated as a villain, and then was given a song and dance by Dr Klein who offered him “redemption” at Valhalla. He bought it, not aware that the man offering it was far worse of a villain than he’d ever been! Now that is Betrayal. It’s not as severe as the betrayal that Spy Gal got, but its still pretty bad.
Gah! Creeptacular… Am I the only person who thinks Jerry’s right on par with some of Batman’s villains in how crazy he is?
How awesome would that be?
Jerry’s grin has that thing going on. That thing the guy had from Courage the Cowardly Dog. Cousin Fred I think. And seeing how in that episode, they played up the fact that he could easily allude to a serial killer I think that’s quite fitting. (Maybe Jerry wants to be a serial shaver too?)
But that being said, Jerry’s facial expressions are getting more and more unhinged with each update. I wonder if it’s dawning on him that his plans are starting to fall apart around him or something? I don’t think Spy Gal will think much of him after she figures out all he’s done.
Well, with everything out in the open, Jerry doesn’t have to act the squeaky clean “Right makes Might!” fool anymore. Now he can be…. naaaauuuughty.
So… You think Jerry’s kinder, more righteous side is an act?
Well, sorta? I mean, I suppose that’s the vibe given off here. And Jerry seemed a little pigeonholed and ridiculed for his sunshine-y persona. The kid started out nice and all, but who’s to say he stayed that way? Maybe he did, but do I don;t see much trace of that here. Or the past few strips.
And what about all the people he’s been? He’s been Jerry, Dr. Klein and the the Third Man. I’d imagine that the roles could bleed together after a while. I’d be confused myself if that happened.
Or, it could just be an off day. If having your long-term crush and wife interrogate in front of a lotta people you know just an “off day”.
I’m just rambling here. It’s fun to think about this stuff. I honestly wonder what’s going through Jerry’s head right now.
You’re thinking about the right stuff. I think this is a question that’s going to be asked a lot more in the coming months.
Now that’s a crazy face! Excellent job Marc! The three hairs standing up like spikes can only mean one thing. That’s right, Brock, you know it’s . . . Crazy speculation time! The three spikey hairs are a clue meant to evoke Thrice Evil’s crest! Jerry isn’t really Jerry, it’s Thrice Evil having switched bodies with Jerry! That’s why he keeps Thrice’s brain addled, so he – being the real Jerry – doesn’t give it all away! He chose Jerry because he was young, not grotesquely malformed and close to Spy Gal. The exchange between the two of them in “Head Games” could be read that way and it would explain the friendly relationship between Jerry and Dr Rocket in “The Doctor and the Doctor”. It would also explain how Jerry knew where Dr Rocket was when he was hiding out in Cuba since Thrice seemed to be something of a protege to Dr Rocket. Just kidding! I don’t think it would have worked with some of the memories we’ve seen from Jerry’s perspective, particularly in his SF Origins. Still, I felt it was past time for some crazy speculation. If it turns out by some one in a billion chance I’m right, I still claim the rights to “Called it!”
I love Crazy Speculation Time! It’s my favorite.
Okay Jerry’s smile is seriously creeping me out…shudder…
Love seeing Marc get all these well-deserved kudos for the art. He was a good sport about doing a couple of different versions of panel 3 so we could get just the right look. Always nice when that kind of effort pays off.
Wow, I wanna buy Jerry a drink after that last panel. Damn!
Got an evil side do you, Jim?
If that isn’t a creeper smile, I don’t know what is.
Agreed 1000%.
Um. I’m about to go to bed. If I have nightmares tonight with that creeper-face Jerry in them, I totally blame Marc.
Seriously, though, well done.
Mission accomplished.
I just realized something else that contributes to Jerry’s creepiness factor in hat last panel. His eyes. The fact that I can see them behind the mask like that and the fact that they are so tiny for some reason terrifies me.
I think you’re right–that’s a big part of it.